Sunday, May 22, 2011

Word of the day: Luddite.

"The Luddites were a social movement of British textile artisans in the nineteenth century who protested – often by destroying mechanized looms – against the changes produced by the Industrial Revolution, which they felt were leaving them without work and changing their way of life.

The principal objection of the Luddites was to the introduction of new wide-framed automated looms that could be operated by cheap, relatively unskilled labour, resulting in the loss of jobs for many skilled textile workers.

In modern usage, "Luddite" is a term describing those opposed to industrialisation, automation, computerisation or new technologies in general."